


See you tomorrow, teaboy

by JustAnotherFlightlessBird



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, M/M, No Smut, Post-Battle of Canary Wharf, Pre-Episode: s01e04 Cyberwoman, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23322949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherFlightlessBird/pseuds/JustAnotherFlightlessBird
Summary: Owen wasn't so sure about this new addition, Ianto.Clearly just eye candy for Jack, Jones won't  last a week; and they'll be better off without him dragging them back, anyway.
Relationships: Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	See you tomorrow, teaboy

**Author's Note:**

> Perhaps I should just stick to one-shots. Is anyone still alive in this fandom? Well, err, here you go, if you are!

Owen remembered Jack mentioning a run-in with a former Torchwood One employee just yesterday- he remembers the man assuring him, as well as the others, that no matter how much this person hassled them for a job, Torchwood Cardiff would have nothing to do with them.

Owen could understand why; they had severed their ties from that institute long ago, and had only just been tasked to clean up what had been left after the fall of Canary Wharf. It was a horrifying and cold version of what they did here, and he was glad to be avoiding them.

That's why he held nothing but confusion in hearing that this mystery man was to be joining them tomorrow as a colleague. 

"And what exactly will this guy be doing when he gets here?" Owen dared to hiss at Jack's retreating form, "Because last we checked, you said there was hardly anything special about this guy; that he was just a bloomin' junior researcher!"

"Fetching coffee, cleaning up the archives, making reports- I'm sure you'll find all sorts of boring admin stuff for him to do" Jack returned easily with a dismissive wave of his hand. Owen felt himself beginning to get ticked off, but before he could get another word in edgewise, Harkness had already closed the door to his office in a clear end to the conversation. 

"Yeah, because we don't already do that stuff ourselves" he mumbles, "hardly need some random geezer to come in and shove himself around out work benches"

"Well, you have to admit it'll save time" Toshiko chimed in from behind her screens, "And we do kind of slack off when it comes to filing reports and putting away artefacts" She made a meaningful nod towards all the unfinished write-ups and idle alien artefacts left dotted around their various work spaces, and Owen had to admit he saw her point. Still, he wasn't going to admit defeat just yet. 

"We've been doing fine until now; we weren't even looking for an assistant to do all this shit before Mr. Torchwood One showed up" He grumbled on stubbornly, "Who do we have to make reports for anyway? _Jack?_ We have no superiors" 

Toshiko said nothing, though he could tell she had more to say, unfortunately he didn't care enough to coax her and just began stalking his way back to the autopsy room.

"It is odd" Suzie said, almost to herself, "How he changed his mind so quickly" She turned to them with a narrowed look, and a suspicious purse of her lips.

"Jack's always made clear that we're completely separate from anything to do with the base in London, and just yesterday he'd promised us he wasn't gonna hire this guy" 

"What's his name again?" Owen asked Toshiko; she's always been very careful to listen to Jack when he spoke, as though she thought every word out of his mouth was like gospel, so he knew she wouldn't have forgotten it. 

"Ianto Jones" she supplied, and she was already typing it into her keyboard to show them.

They all 3 crowded round the screen curiously, wanting to see what they might've missed last night that had spurred Jack into offering this 'Ianto' a job. 

As far as his credentials went, Ianto Jones was in no way remarkable. He was hardly brilliant, if an able student, and had almost no field training. The only advantage Owen could see in hiring this knobhead to a team like Torchwood was that he already knew aliens existed, though thank God they got to skip past _that_ particular song and dance, but that was hardly a real reason to finally give in to the man's harassments. 

It wasn't until they opened the picture attached to his file that they finally understood why Jack had chosen him. 

Suzie scoffed and went back to her desk, shaking her head disappointedly.

"Now he's really taking the piss" he huffed, but Toshiko said nothing, just closed the tab and continued with whatever she had been doing previously, shyly. 

Jack had always, Owen noticed, made sure he hired attractive people to go on his team; it was one of the hang-ups they all noticed, but none of them had enough care to mention. It had never really been that big of a deal; they were all extremely capable and skilled, clear additions to the team and so in no way did they feel cheated or harassed by such blatant job criteria and casual observations.

If not just a coincidence, Jack Harkness just liked working around beautiful people- he never made any move to sleep with them, this was clear, and so the bias seemed harmless. 

"This is gonna be good" He ended with, sauntering away from Tosh's desk and shaking his own head in complete disbelief. 

Owen knew Ianto Jones was nothing but eye candy for Harkness to oggle; good looking, but he held none of the vital skills the other three of them possessed. Unlike them, Ianto _was_ clearly here just for Jack to play with.

The Captain would eventually get bored of fucking his new toy, Owen knew, and Jones wouldn't last long after that. 

No, the teaboy wouldn't last longer than a few weeks. 

* * *

Ianto Jones was lasting longer than a few weeks. 

It was a fact Owen had been pondering continuously since they hit the 3 month mark, and even after all this time, he was still surprised to come into work every day and be met with the man's quiet presence. 

Not that he thought that Jack would fire him at this point -no not at all- it was more that he forgot Ianto was even a resident there. Teaboy's work being so separate from the rest of them, and he himself being half-hungover and half-distracted by his work on his best days meant that he hardly noticed the Welshman, if not only for a few seconds a day to make a mildly ill-intention-ed remark. 

He noticed small things, at least: he noticed how the coffee had become significantly better, how the Hub had grown to be tidier and cleaner in general, how food magically appeared at lunchtimes and at late nights. These were all fine and dandy, but Owen still couldn't help but feel how they were all practically useless in the grand scheme of things- not exactly irreplaceable improvements. 

Indulgences, at the end of the day, were what they were. And wasn't that a word that perfectly summed up what Ianto Jones was to the Torchwood Three team- and especially Captain Jack Harkness himself; an indulgence. 

It made Owen scoff, even when he was humming appreciatively- albeit distractedly- into his third mug of the day, how Jones had managed to fool the other 3 into thinking he was in-disposable.

It was in the way the Welshman smiled at them, placating, as though he knew everything, as though he was smug. _I'm think I'm better than you,_ it seemed to say to Owen, _'Anything you need before I go down?'_

Owen glared after the retreating figure, as Ianto once again skulked down to the depths of the Archives to go sniff at some files. _You're nothing but a housemaid_ , he thought viciously, _I could do everything you do and more_

He'd calm down after a few moments, and jostle himself back into clear thought. There was no need to be threatened by Ianto, they had such different job descriptions there was really no need to bristle every time the man offered up a piece of random trivia and knowledge that happened to be useful to a case, or managed to be prepared for any given situation.

_"Actually, sir, that's not Swedish; I do believe it's Dutch, actually"_

_"I keep a spare change of clothes for all of you in the back of the car, if you need a change from what's left of yours"_

_"There's an abandoned cow farm just a few kilometres from where you are currently, sir, and I do believe the pens they used to detain the cows to be milked would be more than sufficient"_

Sometimes the silent, steady background support was noticeably nice, though, Owen might admit. It made things run smoother, most of the time, and made it so he had noticeably more sleep, and had less overnight workdays at the Hub. 

"Ms Sato? Ms Sato?" A light shake of the shoulders, and a sleepy mumble "Tosh?"

"Mmm" Toshiko opened her eyes blearily, "Oh, Ianto, sorry I must've fallen asleep"

"Go home, Tosh" Came the reply, "I can finish the report for you; as much as I can and then tomorrow you can check it over before I file it"

Usually she would say no, but she really was tired, "Well, only if you're sure"

"Of course, it's no problem" He reached over and pried the unfinished report from under her elbows, along with an empty mug she had left on the desk, "Is there anything else you want before you go?"

  
"No, that's okay; thank you Ianto" She smiled at him tiredly, gratefully. She really was exhausted, anyone could see the dark circles under her eyes, and Owen's medical degree and practice had taught him just how devastating the effects of exhaustion could become sometimes. 

"Turning in for the night, then Tosh?" 

"Yeah, thanks to Ianto; you should try and finish up soon too, Owen"

Later on, after Tosh had long gone, the doctor turned himself in to leave, ready to meet his own bed for a round. As he was walking out, he spotted Ianto bent over the desk in the tourist office, doing the report just as he had promised.

There was a concentrated crease to his brow as though he was putting all his care into the simple, menial task.

Owen thought about Toshiko, and how she would've definitely spent more than too long trying to fight through her body's fatigue to finish it herself, because he knew how she found those reports taxing and could hardly stay focused enough to do them quickly. She worked too hard, he knew, and hardly let herself go home to her apartment and _sleep._

He took one last look at Ianto as he left, _yeah,_ he thought, _suppose it is nice having him around_

"See you tomorrow, teaboy"


End file.
